Road surfacing device



Nov. 26, 1968 .1. E. GRIFFIN 3,412,658

ROAD SURFAC ING DEVICE Filed Nov. 14, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 26,1968 J. E. GRIFFIN ROAD SURFACING DEVICE m o@ Q M L M2 :E L S A I .W 2OM O @N we om @www mu @.mwm

QN N O. E; ..,h

v. w om O m EESM :Q-t-borne,

United States Patent O 3,412,658 ROAD SURFACING DEVICE John E. Griln,22S N. Lucas St., Iowa City, Iowa 52240 Filed Nov. 14, 1966, Ser. No.594,020 4 Claims. (Cl. 94-45) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A power floathaving a screed frame resta-ble directly upon a pair of screeds withattachment structure for attaching the frame to the screeds withoutforming any openings in the screeds and with power structure forautomatically moving the oat along a surface including a power drivenWinch with cable means wound around the winch in opposite directions andwith the free ends of the cable being attached at a remote location.

This invention is concerned with a road surfacing device useful inpreparing poured concrete surfaces such as roads, driveways, alleys andthe like. It is specifically directed to a new, lightweight, portablepower driven float which allows a large volume of concrete to besurfaced in a short period of time. It replaces large, expensive piecesof heavy equipment heretofore used which are diiiicult to use and costlyto repair.

In its more specific embodiments, the power float of this inventioncomprises a screed frame adapted to hold a pair of screeds, noveladjustable shaft driven vibrator means and utilizes, in a preferredembodiment, a commercially available gasoline powered engine of the typecommonly found on power lawn mowers.

A particularly outstanding embodiment utilizes a winch and cablearrangement for allowing the device to -be selfpropelled, thus making itvery useful in striking olf large concrete surfaces such as roadways.

As indicated, the invention is directed to a simple, yet unique poweroat. A review of the prior art indicates that when attempts have beenmade to mechanically oat and shape concrete, the results are manifestedby large, heavy and often cumbersome pieces of equipment that areexceedingly expensive. Since the pouring of concrete roadways is oftenseasonal, breakdowns are costly in time and labor to contractorsattempting to meet job schedules. Also, in the case of smallcontractors, they are often unable to afford these large items ofconcrete finishing equipment even on a rental basis.

The present invention lls a long-felt need in the road surfacing art. Itprovides a simple, lightweight and compact power float that isinexpensive, may be operated by one man and is sufficiently portable sothat it may be trucked from job to job in small trucks or even in theback of a standard size station wagon.

The power oat of the invention is also capable of ready adaptation to avariety of road surfacing jobs such as crowning, curb forming and thelike, without necessitating expensive modifications. It thereforebecomes an object of the invention to provide an improved, lightweight,portable inexpensive power oat.

Summary Another object of the invention is to provide a power oatadaptable to a wide variety of concrete pouring situations.

3,412,658 Patented Nov. 26, 1968 ICC A further object of the inventionis to furnish a simple power oat which by suitable modification can bemade self-propelled.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For a more comprehensive understanding of the invention, reference maybe had to the drawing of which:

FIG. l is a plan view of the power float of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side View of a screed mounting clamp and is taken acrosslines 2 2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front view, broken away in part, showing the novel shaftdriven adjustable vibration means.

FIG. 4 is a side view taken across lines 4 4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a top view showing the self-propelled adaptation of theinvention.

FIG. 6 is a front View corresponding to FIG. 5.

With specific reference to the drawings, and in particular FIG. 1, thereis shown a screed frame 10 comprising a pair of parallel spaced-apartplates 12 and 14 respectively. The plates are formed from conventionalangle iron so as to have a top portion 16 into which screeds 18 and 20lit. To hold the screeds in position, there are provided screed clamps22 which are shown to best advantage in FIG. 2. As can be seen, the backend of the screed clamp has aflixed thereto a spacing bar 24 which actsto properly position the clamp with respect to the top portion 16 of thescreed plate. Drilled into the screed clamp is a hole for accommodatingbolt 26 which extends through mounting bracket 28 with the totalassembly providing a secure, yet easily removable, fastening for thescreeds 18 and 20. To hold the screed plates in spaced-apart parallelrelationship, spacer bars 30 are provided. This furnishes a screed frameassembly which gives lirm support and rigidity t0 the screeds whenmounted therein. It should be observed that mounting brackets 28 arefastened to the sides of the spacer bars 30.

Positioned at opposite ends of the screed frame assembly are a pair ofsemi-circular handle mounting brackets 32 and 34. Fitted to the handlemounting brackets is U- shaped handle 36 which is provided with slottedends 38 which fit in loose relationship to the handle mounting bracketsand are attached thereto by mounting bolts 40. It is obvious that thehandle is movable in an arcuate fashion and allows the operator of thedevice freedom in directing its forward and backward movements.

Positioned on top of the screed frame assembly is a motor mount housing42. This housing, as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, is la box-likestructure having la bottom portion 44 and ya deck 46. The bottom portioncontains a pair of parallel angle iron plates 48 which are adapted bymeans of a slot (not shown) to receive pulley 50 and shaft 52. Thepulley is connected to shaft 52 which is journaled in pillow blocks 54and 56.

Positioned at about the center of the shaft, in a preferred embodimentof the invention, are a pair of pieshaped balance weights 58 and 60. Ascan be seen to best advantage in FIG. 4, the apex of the pie-shapedbalance weights are bored to receive the shaft 52 and are side tapped toreceive adjustment screws 62 and 64.

By adjusting the pie-shaped balance weights around the shaft, thevibrational characteristics of the screed frame and the screeds attachedthereto m-ay be easily regulated to provide optimum effectiveness forsurfacing any particular area of concrete to be operated upon by thedevice. The setting shown in FIG. 4 provides minimum vibration whereaswhen the pie-shaped segments rare in parallel relationship to each othermaximum vibration is achieved.

To power the device, :pulley 50 is driven by means of belt 66 which isattached to a conventional gasolinedriven engine or motor 68. The motormay be a gasoline engine of the type used to power small domesticdevices such as power lawn mowers, rototillers and the like. Experiencehas shown that a 21/4 horsepower motor delivers more than enough powerto drive pulley 70 which is attached to the motor shaft, tosatisfactorily operate the screed.

To actuate the power float, the operator starts motor 63 and, afterhaving 4ascertained that the proper screeds are in the screed frame, bya simple pulling motion can rapidly float large areas in a relativelyshort period of time. For instance, under actual operating conditions,it is possible to lioat more than several hundred linear feet of aconventional ten-foot driveway in but a few hours.

While the device illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 4 is adequate forsurfacing small areas poured in concrete, the invention is capable offurther modifications to allow the power floating of large `concreteareas such as highways by means of the adaptations shown in FIGS. and 6.With particular reference to these drawings, there is shown what may betermed a self-propelled power float. The basic construction details aresimilar to those previously discussed with the exception that the shaft52 is longer and is fitted with a power take-off pulley 72. This pulleythrough belt 74 and pulley 76 is used to power a speed reducing gear box78. To this speed reducer through clutch 80 is affixed winch 82.

The winch being driven at a substantially slower speed than the shaft 52affords a take-up mechanism for cable 84. Cable 84 is so wound .aroundwinch 82 that the opposite ends of the cable 86 and 88 are taken up inopposite directions to each other as wound on the winch.

As shown in FIG. 5, the screeds 18 and 20' are maintained parallel attheir ends by means of cross-braces 86 and 88, respectively. Fittedwithin the front end of screed 18 is horizontally-positioned pulleys 90and 92, which .are adapted to receive the ends of the cable S6 and 88.After passing through the horizontally-disposed guide pulleys 90 and 92,the ends of the cable may be attached to suitable stakes or deadmen 94and 96.

For purposes of illustrating the adaptability and versatility of thedevice, the self-propelled oat has its one end fitted with curb-formingplates 98 and 99 which are fitted in mirror image to opposite ends ofthe screeds 18 and 20. Fitted between the plates is a feed hopper 100into which concrete may be poured for purposes of -adding additionalconcrete during the curb-forming operations.

As the winch 82 begins to turn, tension is applied to each end of thecable and the entire power float is moved along the area to be struck ofnished. By selecting a suitable speed reducing mechanism 7S, the rate oftravel of the entire apparatus may be carefully controlled.

An important feature of the invention resides in the fact that thescreeds 18 and 20 :are most suitably formed of an inexpensive easilyreplaceable material such as wood. Since they are readily removed andattached to the screed frame 10, it is obvious that a variety of screedshapes can be carried to a job site and installed into the screed frame.This enables the device to perform functions only heretofore capable ofbeing performed by complex expensive heavy mechanical equipment. As thescreeds lose their cont-our, they may be discarded and rcplaced withfresh screeds. The invention, while of simple design, is extremelyversatile in that a variety of adjustments can be made to adapt it to aninfinite number of paving situations.

In certain instances, it has been found desirable to arrange two of thedevices in tandem on a single pair of screeds to permit more rapidstriking of large concrete surfaces. The invention, as indicated,provides ia small portable unit that can be easily transported from jobto job in simple vehicular conveyances.

Having thus described my invention, it is claimed 1. A power float forsurfacing concrete roadways, driveways and the like, comprising a screedframe a-dapted to hold a pair of screeds in parallel spaced-apartrelationship, a pair of screeds mounted on said screed frame, vibratormeans for said screed frame, said vibrator means comprising a shaft`having an adjustable balance weight positioned thereon capable ofimparting vibrational imbalance to said shaft under conditions of highspeed rotation, vmotor means for ydriving said shaft, a winch, a cablepassing about the winch intermediate the ends of the cable to have bothends of the cabie free for connection away from the frame and providetake-up in opposite directions for each end of the cable, and guidevmeans for guiding the cable in a predetermined direction comprising atleast two pulleys located one at each end of the frame to engage thecable and guide the frame during its entire movement.

2. A power iioat forsurfacing concrete roadways, driveways and the like,comprising a screed -frame adapted to hold a pair of screeds in parallelspaced-apart relationship, a pair of screeds mounted on said screedframe, vibrator means for said screed frame, said vibrator meanscomprising la shaft having an adjustable balance weight positionedthereon capable of imparting vibrational irnbalance to said shaft underconditions of high speed rotation, 'motor means for driving said shaft,the screed frame comprising a pair of lrigid parallel spaced apartplates having associated therewith adjustable clamp means for engagingthe pair of screeds, each of said plates being generally horizontal anddefined by an angle iron section with the other section of the angleiron forming a depending flange whereby a corner is defined to receive acorner of a screed, and said clamp means for each screed includes anangle iron having one fiange engageable with one of said plates, and aremovable fastener extending through both angle irons to hold the angleirons and screed in assembled relation.

3. A power float for surfacing concrete surfaces, comprising a screedframe adapted to hold a pair of screeds in parallel spaced apartrelation, a pair of removable screeds mounted on said screed frame,vibrator means operatively connected to said screed frame, power meansfor driving said vibrator means, a winch operatively connected to saidpower means, said winch being positioned intermediate the outer ends ofthe frame and having its rotational axis generally parallel to the pathof travel of the iioat, cable means passed around said winchintermediate the ends of the cable means to have both ends of the cablemeans free for connection away from the frame, said cable means beingwound around said winch to provide take-up in opposite directions foreach free end of the cable means as said winch rotates, and guide meansfor the free ends of said cable means at each of said outer ends of saidframe to guide the ends of said cable means from said winch along adirection normal to said screeds.

4. A power float for surfacing concrete roadways, driveways and thelike, comprising a screed frame adapted to hold a pair of screeds inparallel spaced-apart relationship, a pair of screeds mounted on saidscreed frame, vibrator means for said screed frame, said vibrator meanscomprising a shaft having an adjustable balance weight positionedthereon capable of imparting vibrational imbalance to said shaft underconditions of high speed rotation, motor means for driving said shaft,the screed frame comprising a pair of rigid parallel spaced apart plateshaving associated therewith adjustable clamp means for engaging the pairof screeds, each of said plates being generally horizontal and definedby an angle iron section with the other section of the angle ironforming a depending tiange whereby a corner is defined to receive acorner of a screed and support the weight of the screed frame thereon,and said clamp means for each screed includes a clamp member engageablewith one References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/ 1935 Mandt 94--44 12/1938 Jackson 94-48 1/1940 Heltzel 94-45 Oswald 94-45 Whiteman 94-45Troxell 94-45 Wells 94--48 Nave 94-48 Peterson 94--48 X Maginniss 94-48NILE C. BYERS, IR., Primary Examiner.

